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Cooper's Hawk - SE PA (1 Viewer)

T

tzmd

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Judging by the size and tail, I would say this is a Cooper's Hawk. Juvenile due to the yellow eyes. However, I don't think I have seen one with a yellow spot on the beak. Can someone confirm?

Everyone is probably thinking I live near some sort of hawk sanctuary with all of these raptors questions lately, but honestly it's just a normal suburban neighborhood. I think the word is out regarding our squirrel population. LOL!

Thanks for the help! :)
 

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I thought I got both pictures in the original post. Here is a shot facing forward of the same bird...a little blurry... sorry bout that.
 

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Yes, immature Cooper's Hawk. The "yellow spot" is the "cere", a soft swelling at the base of the upper mandible found on the beaks of hawks, pigeons, skuas, and various other birds. Yellow ceres are characteristic of Cooper's & other hawks.
 
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Just a couple of other points - better marks for juvenile accipiters than eye color are the brownish color of the upperparts and brown vertical streaking on the underside. I agree this is a Cooper's but that may not be a 100% slam dunk from the first pic alone. On the second pic you can see the streaking gives out as it goes down the belly - a Cooper's trait.
 
Based on tail shape alone, this is a Sharpie for me. No graduated feather lengths, which is diagnostic for Cooper's and easily seen even in the folded tail.

Also, the breast streaking for Cooper's is consistently fine streaking from breast to belly. This bird shows more robust streaking throughout even if it does taper a bit at the lower belly.
 
I have never seen a sharp-shinned, but I do know the tail is more square than a Coopers, and we do have both in this area. I am fairly new at identification, but I am learning. :)

I have more pictures at home that could be of help, if we are at a cross-roads between Coopers or Sharpie, but they are fairly similar to the ones I posted already. What other types of identification could we use to tell them apart?
 
Size is the best method if you are close enough and have a frame of reference to measure them by. A male Sharp-shin is small. It is about as small as a Blue Jay. Females can be a good bit larger but they are still smaller than the smallest male Cooper's hawk.

Then there are their tarsi (shins) which are very thin compared to a Cooper's hawk. If you see one perched you can see how pencil thin their talons are.

In flight, they have a loose flappy wing beat and display a deep chested, narrow hipped profile where as the Cooper's hawk is more barrel shaped with a stiffer wing beat.

I'm describing them as seen live and in action. But even then you will get disputes among hawk watchers. I've been to Hawk Mountain a few time recently and seen quite a few migrating. Sometimes the watchers disagree. I sometimes think that the official bird counters there, often young interns from foreign countries, might be making educated guesses.

Bob
 
Thanks for the help, Ceasar. Going by size, I would go with all the birders who identified it as a Coopers because it was definately bigger than a Blue Jay. Now I know what to look for in a Sharp-shinned now too :)

It sounds like these two birds are like trying to decifer between a downy and hairy woodpecker without seeing them side by side. But once you see it for yourself the first time, it's easier in the future.

We are making a trip to Hawk Mtn this weekend. It's my first time so I am really excited. The weather should be perfect.

T.
 
I can't actually decide on this one. Tail looks pretty long.

Of course, when you cant decide you take the poll and go with the higher votes.
 
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My guess is Cooper's just based on the other points given. It it were larger than a pigeon, it definitely wasn't a Sharpie.
 
Hi, all - Cornell has a pretty good Cooper's/Sharp-shinned comparison page here:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/accipiterIDtable.htm

I think this hawk is an immature Sharp-shinned. Though they are not side-by side and difficult to compare dimensions, I was able to watch several Blue Jays and this Hawk "play" tag for 10-15 minutes. The Hawk was definitely bigger than the Jays. My point is that although Sibley's shows both Blue Jay and Sharp-shinned as 11", there is much variability there, especially the raptor.

Steve
 

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Tero, That pic in the slideshow looks JUST like the bird from my backyard! I am now convinced that he/she is a Coopers Hawk.

Steve, After looking at your picture of the Sharpie, I can really see the difference between the two types of hawks. Thank you! I agree that yours is definately a Sharp-shinned. The site you provided showing the difference will be a lot of help in the future.
I had already signed up for feeder watch but never went back to investigate the site further.

Theresa.
 
I don't think that Steve's hawk is a Sharp-shin. I think it is a Cooper's hawk. I think that it is much too big when compared to the Blue Jay and that it's beak is too big. And that was my first impression when I first saw the photograph. It also has the barrel shaped body rather than the deep chested more narrow hipped appearance that a Sharp-shin has.

The average Jay according to Peterson is 11 inches in length. And according to Wheeler in his RAPTORS of Western North America (Western edition at page 161) the female Sharp-shin is 11" to 13" in length. The male averages 9" to 11" in length and can be smaller than a Blue Jay. He also notes that Sharp-shins have a "petite" bill on the same page right below the measurements given.

Here are the measurements Wheeler gives for Cooper's hawks: Male 14"-16" and Female 16"-19." Page 179.

Bob

PS: You would be surprised at how really small some Sharp-shins appear to be when seen close up flying near you! The male isn't really much larger than an American Kestrel.
 
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The skinny legs feature of sharpies just confuses me, especially in pictures, so I do not use if for ID. The one with the blue jay above, which Bob says is a Coopers, I cant do anything with the legs.

I would bet that the male Coopers and Female sharpie have the same thickness legs.
 
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Well today at the hawkwatch we didn't really didn't argue on our Sharpie ID's at Bake Oven Knob Hawkwatch (just a little bit up ridge from Hawk Mountain) I would say your bird is a Coop. Sharpie's from every angle today.
 
Sounds like I might be able to see a Sharpie in person tomorrow! It's my first trip up to Hawk Mtn. Any advice or tips?

Thanks,
T.
 
Steve's hawk is a Sharp-shin. It is rather reddish underneath and the streaks on the chest are broad and blurry. Because it is farther from the camera than the Blue Jay, it is going to look larger than it actually is.
 
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